Pavelski nominated for award

The Sports Xchange

May 3, 2012 4:18 AM ET

--F Joe Pavelski has been voted by his teammates as the club's nominee for the NHL's King Clancy Memorial Trophy, awarded annually "to the player in the league who best exemplifies leadership qualities both on-and off-the-ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community." Pavelski, 27, is in his sixth NHL season. A leader on and off the ice, Pavelski has set the bar with his tireless off-ice commitments to the community. Assisting the Sharks Foundation, which offers unique resources and financial support to organizations that enhance the lives of the local youth, Pavelski has participated in many community events over the course of the 2011-12 season. This is the second straight King Clancy Memorial Trophy nomination for Pavelski.

--The Sharks signed teenage D Dylan DeMelo to an entry-level contract. DeMelo, 18, recently completed his third season for Mississauga in the Ontario Hockey League, where he ranked seventh among OHL defensemen in points (47) and tied for fourth in assists (40) in 67 games played. After Mississauga was eliminated from the postseason, DeMelo played four games for Worcester in the American Hockey League, posting one assist. In 2010-11, DeMelo helped lead Mississauga to the Memorial Cup Finals, where they were defeated by Saint John. DeMelo contributed 27 points (three goals, 24 assists) in 67 regular-season games and added one goal and four assists in 20 postseason games. The 6-foot, 200-pound native of London, Ontario, was originally drafted in 2011 by San Jose in the sixth round (179th overall).

QUOTE TO NOTE "The way the game went, it looked like we were on our heels early, which we kind of figured because they were going to come out with a lot of energy with the crowd behind them. We got through that, we started to play better toward the end of the first period and most of the second, and the first part of the third, and then right before they scored, I could sense we were back on our heels again, playing a defensive shift." -- Coach Todd McLellan, on the critical turning point midway through the third period of Game 5.